The present invention relates to a tube bender, and more specifically to a portable tube bender for bending square tubes, which is lightweight, less costly and easy to handle. More in particular, the tube bender of the instant invention is most useful for bending square tubes.
Apparatus for cold bending tubes, pipes or rods are well known in the art. Conventional apparatus generally comprise an elongated frame with power means, such as a reciprocating hydraulic ram mounted lengthwise on a frame, a forming die or bending shoe having a semi-circular configuration mounted on the end of the ram, and a pair of workpieces holding rollers mounted in fixed relation to the forming die. Each roller has a receiving channel concave in cross-section for holding the tubular workpiece. The tubular workpiece is held against the rollers and the power means pushes against the center portion of the workpiece between the rollers to form a bend in the workpiece. For bending square tubes, many conventional bending apparatus utilize a two-step method to complete a tube bending. The first step is to indent or crimp side walls of a tube and the second step is to bend the tube.